


From the Beginning

by orphan_account



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Falling In Love, Flirting, Fluff, Minor Character Death, Self-Defense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-15 10:56:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18072107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After suffering a career-ending injury on a case, Marcus Kane retires from the police force and opens up his own self-defense studio. Abby Griffin comes to him and requests that he teach her his class. They learn about each other along the way, but being a widow, will Abby be able to let someone in again?





	1. 11-99

_1 year earlier_   

Marcus Kane signals to his partner, Indra, to stay at the front as he goes around to the back. He can hear the sobs of a woman inside the house.

"Get up. Step forward. Don't try anything that you might regret," comes a booming voice that silences the women's cries. Through the sliding-glass door Marcus can see the trembling woman, but has no visual on the armed suspect. Quietly, Marcus starts opening the door, inch by inch so he isn't compromised. Gun raised, he makes his way over to the woman who is standing, surrendered, to a man Marcus presumes is in a part of the hallway he can't see. Not wanting to startle the gunman, he stays hidden. A still body on the floor catches his attention, he can't tell if they're breathing or not. He wants so badly to radio dispatch for an ambulance, but he can't do so without putting the woman and himself at risk.

The man's deep voice pulls Kane's eyes away from the body, "you don't have to die. Unlock the safe, give me what's inside. Do exactly what I say and no one gets hurt."

" _Someone_ already got hurt," she says, every word dripping with anger.

"Fine. I'll do it myself," Marcus can hear the cocking of the gun. His body moves faster than his mind. He lunges forward and tackles the woman to the ground as the man rains bullets upon them. Hearing the shots, Indra comes bursting through the door. Before the suspect can react, she shoots him in the shoulder. The woman, un-hit, runs over to the man who was shot before the officers even arrived. Indra rushes over to where Marcus is sprawled out on the hard-wood floor.

"Dispatch. 11-99. Repeat, 11-99," Indra yells into the com of her radio. Kneeling by her partner, she starts to assess his injuries. A bullet through his thigh, another into his stomach, but he was still breathing.

 

* * *

_Present time_  

The continuous sound of the leather shield being hit echoes throughout the studio.

"Make sure you're alternating. Use your left, too," Marcus instructs to the teenager. Bellamy finally got the hang of it. He was throwing solid punches while still manoeuvring away from Kane's attacks. Just then, the door chimed as someone walked in.

Without looking away from Bellamy's hits he shouted, "just a moment!"

Not getting a response, he does a quick once over to see who was there. That was a big mistake. His eyes lingered on the woman with wavy brown hair a second too long. Bellamy took this moment to strike and put Kane flat on his back. Groaning, he let Bellamy pull him back to his feet.

"Good work today, tomorrow same time?" Bellamy nodded. As Kane turned around, he came face to face with the woman.

Extending his hand towards her, "Marcus Kane."

She looked down at his hand, hesitating for a moment before finally shaking it. "Right. I'm Abby."

He immediately felt a a course of electricity run through his body at the contact. Clearing his throat, he asks what she's there for.

"Self-defense," was her short reply. "I need you to teach me it."

Pulling out his phone, he starts going through the available dates and times they can start. "I have some slots open on Wednesday, Friday as well."

"What about now?"

"Now?"

"Now." Taking in his confused expression, she quickly throws in, "Unless you can't, I can always-"

"Now is fine, it's just that most people typically don't schedule their sessions for the same day they come in. I was surprised, that's all."

"Let's get started then."

Dropping her duffel bag on the floor, she pulls out her gloves. It's only now that he really gets a good look at her. Taking in her black tank top and messy ponytail, he turns around and looks up, trying to compose himself. _Get it together, Marcus,_ he thinks. She hops up onto the cushioned mat and waits for him to join her.

"You're not allowed to laugh."

"Laugh?" He asks incredulously.

"This is my first time. I've never taken a defense class before."

"Most of my participants are in the same boat as you." Then, trying to lighten the mood. "Besides, you saw me fall on my ass earlier, you didn't laugh at me. It's only fair."

Laughing and tightening her gloves, "Well, not out loud I didn't."

Letting out a laugh himself, he raises his hands into position and has Abby copy him.

"I need to fix your stance," he says while moving into her personal space and adjusting her hips. Abby's breath catches in her throat at the contact, but just like that it was all over and he was moving back to his spot.

"Okay, now I want you to hit me, right here," he says while patting the shield on his left hand.

It went on like that for an hour, Marcus correcting her when she moved out of position, Abby hitting whichever pad he pointed to until she developed a solid rhythm. They set a date for their next session, and as Abby was packing her duffel bag he offered to walk her to her car, his reasoning being it was dark out.

As they're walking across the street in a comfortable silence, Marcus breaks it by saying, "you know, there's spots right in front of the building. You didn't need to park all the way in the hospital's parking garage."

"I work here, I'm a doctor," she adds matter of factly, gesturing to the big hospital on the right.

"A doctor learning how to fight, that's something I never thought I'd see" he huffs a laugh at the irony. At that, he notices Abby's face fall and decides not to breach the subject further. As they approach her car, he isn't sure how to proceed, having obviously made her upset.

"Look, Abby, I'm sorry if I said something-"

"No, no it's fine. I just.. I'll see you Friday, okay?" She says, trying to keep the tears at bay. Marcus nods and watches as she leaves, silently cursing himself for being so stupid. He likes her company. He likes  _her._ Now he was worried that he may have screwed that all up.

 


	2. Second Chances

On Friday morning, Abby Griffin was on her way up to floor 3 of the hospital. She was greeted by her assistant, Jackson, with a donut and coffee.

”You're a lifesaver, have I ever told you that?”

”Multiple times, yes. I never get tired of hearing it though.”

She huffs a laugh. “Don’t forget I have a session with Kane later.”

”How could I forget? You haven’t been able to stop talking about him for the past three days.”

”Jackson..” She warns.

”I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

Giving his arm a gentle squeeze, ”we’re only sparring, there’s nothing to be worried about.”

”You know I’m not talking about the sparring, Abby.”

”Drop it, please. I have patients to see,” leaving him with that, she turns on her heel and heads toward her office.

 

***

Later that day, Abby walked into Kane’s studio,  but the man she met earlier that week was nowhere to be seen. She set her duffel bag onto the bench and sat down, pulling out her gloves and putting them next to her. As if on cue, he walked out of an office and immediately lit up at the sight of her.

”Sorry for keeping you waiting. I was planning out my schedule for the next month,” he says as he makes his way over to her. For the first time, she notices that he’s walking with a limp. Not thinking much of it, she pushes it to the back of her mind.

”You do that? Don’t you have a secretary?”

”Well, yes, Charmaine. She’s on maternity leave at the moment. I couldn’t be bothered to hire a filler.” Gesturing to her gloves, “you won’t be needing those today. I was thinking we could do arm control and opponent takedown.”

”You’re going to throw me on the floor?” She asks with humor in her voice.

Flashing her a smile that stops her breath for a moment, “i’ll break your fall.” On the mat, he adjusts her hips and centers her in front of him.

”I’m going to slowly run through the motions with you. Grab your opponents arm, like this.” He demonstrated the actions as he said them out loud. After going through the movements a few times, he, _gently_ , put her on the floor and straddled her.

“Of course, you’d use your full force, but since we’re only practicing there’s no need to go all out.” Moving her arms out to the side and clasping her wrists in his hands, he pins them down. “It’s important to keep your opponent out of control. You don’t want to leave their arms free.”

Smirking, she says, “I’m starting to think you’re doing this because you like the position.”

“You’re the one who wants to take the class!” He says defensively, although he wasn’t going to lie, his body never has  _this_ type of reaction when doing takedowns with the other participants.

Once he felt like he demonstrated enough, he had her try it out on him. It was difficult for Abby to put him on the ground since she was much smaller than him, plus, she wasn’t using her full force, but nonetheless, they ended the session with Marcus on the ground and her straddling him. Helping him to his feet, they made their way off the mat.

Scratching his neck with nervous eyes, he clears his throat, “so, I was wondering, are you free this weekend?”

”For a session?”

”Not exactly. I was thinking we could go out to dinner, say, Saturday evening?”

”Like a date.” More of a statement than a question. Smiling, she jokingly says, “I knew you didn’t have pure motives during that takedown!” Giving him an answer to his before-mentioned question, “But, as much as I’d love to, my shifts end late this weekend.”

”I could bring lunch? To your office?” he offers as an alternative to the dinner plans.

”You’d do that?” Her voice coming out softer than before.

”Of course,” he replies, equally as soft.

Breaking out of the trance he seems to put her in whenever he’s around, she asks, “do you have a card with your number on it? I’ll have to text you what time my lunch starts tomorrow.”

Shuffling through his backpack, he pulls out a few things to have a better chance at finding his business card buried at the bottom. She takes notice of the sweater, water bottle, and pain-killers he pulls out... wait, pain killers? That stops her. She wonders, do they have something to do with the limp? She’s pulled from her thoughts as Marcus hands her the card with a smile on his face.

”I’ll text you tonight,” and on that note, she leaves.

 

***

Abby drives home in a better mood than usual. She hasn't been comfortable going home to the loneliness ever since her husband died. Pulling up to her house, she pulls the keys out of the ignition and leans back in her seat. Taking Kane’s card out of her pocket, she inputs the number into her messages and sends him a text.

Abby: It’s Abby. I’m still not sure when my lunch will be. I’ll let you know tomorrow once I get into the office.

Marcus: All good. What would you like me to bring?

Abby tells him what kind of sandwich she likes from the place next-door to his studio. He’s already bringing her lunch, she doesn’t want him to go too far out of his way.

Marcus: Good choice. Anything for my favorite sparring partner.

Abby: I’m sure you say that about all your participants.

Marcus: Just you.

Abby’s heart did a little flip-flop in her chest. Bidding him goodnight, she makes her way up to her house, takes a shower, and goes to bed.


	3. Comfortable

The following morning, Abby texts Marcus the time of her lunch and where to go once he’s at the hospital. They share a few more messages before she has to go see her first patient. Marcus spends the rest of his morning getting ready, he slips on a white, button-up shirt with a pair of tan khaki pants. He didn’t want to dress too fancy since it was only a quick lunch in her office. Arriving at Harper’s Deli around 11:30am, he stands in line and waits.

”Marcus! It’s so good to see you again! Your usual?” Says Harper. Since their businesses are right next to each other, they’ve become friends and Marcus goes there quite often for his lunches.

”Actually, I’d like two of the Grilled Ham and Pesto sandwiches please. Add two fountain drinks to that as well.”

”Trying new things, are we?”

”I’m actually meeting someone for lunch today,” he says smiling, happy he finally gets to tell someone about Abby.

”I’m happy for you! So, what’s the lucky woman’s name?”

”Abby. I’m heading over to her office right after this.”

”I won’t keep you waiting then,” and with that she worked on their sandwiches, he paid, and she wished him good luck. Walking over to the fountain drinks, he realized he actually has no idea what she drinks. All he’s seen her drink is water at his studio. He eventually decides to get a sprite and coke, that way she can choose between the two and he can have the other one.

Checking his watch after he walks across the street, 11:45, he thinks, plenty of time to sign in at the hospital and head up to her floor. A young man with the name-tag “Murphy” greets him at the counter.

“I’m here to see Dr. Griffin.”

”Name please?” He says in a voice devoid of any emotion.

”Marcus Kane.”

”She came and checked you in this morning. Here’s your visitors badge,” Murphy hands him the lanyard and he slips it over his head. “Elevators are on the left. Floor three is where you’ll be going.”

”Thank you.”

He was struggling to press the button with the two drinks in his hand, but thankfully a nurse sees his predicament and helps out. Stepping out onto Abby’s floor, he hears his name being called.

”Officer Kane? What’s it been? Two months? I don’t remember seeing you on my list of appointments for today.”

”Thelonius, it’s good to see you. I’m actually here to see Dr. Griffin.”

”Dr. Griffin? You changed doctors?” Thelonius asks.

”Oh, no. I’m actually bringing her lunch,” he holds up the bag of sandwiches to prove his point.

“I see. How’s your leg doing?”

”The pain comes and goes, the pain-killers have been helping.”

A hand comes and rests on Kane’s back, “hey, you” Abby says to Marcus.

”Hi,” Marcus says smiling down at her.

Jaha clears his throat, ”I’m glad to hear they’re working. Anyways, I have paperwork waiting for me. I'll see you around.”

”I look forward to it.” Jaha takes that as his cue to leave and Abby guides Marcus to her office.

”You have a couch in your office?”

”I do. Sometimes when my shifts are longer I take a nap during my lunch.” They take a seat on the couch and Abby scoots in close to Marcus to look in the bag. “I really appreciate this Marcus,” she says while grabbing her sandwich.

”It was no problem. You picked a good place, I go there a lot.” Then, remembering the drinks he placed on the table in front of them, “I forgot to ask what you drink. I got a sprite and coke, take your pick.” She picked up the sprite and took a sip.

Breaking the silence, Abby asks, “How do you know Thelonius?”

”He’s my doctor.”

”Is he the one who prescribed you the pills?” At this, Marcus’ eyes shot up to hers.

”How do you know...“ His words trailing off towards the end.

”I saw them yesterday, when you were going through your backpack.” He breaks eye contact with her and looks down at his lap. A beat, and then, grabbing one of his hands in both of hers, “Marcus, what’s going on?”

“I was- I was shot, on active duty,” he replies, still looking down.

”What? You’re a cop?” She exclaims. How did she not know this?

”Retired. I’m a retired cop.” Then, continuing, “The bullet went straight through.” Letting out a humourless laugh, “can’t have an officer whose leg could give out at any given moment. They did offer me a desk job, but it just wasn’t the same. I declined.”

”Marcus, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up. I didn’t know.”

”It’s okay. I would’ve told you sooner or later anyways,” Snuggling even closer to him, they continue to eat their food. His voice startles her from her thoughts. “On another note, my old partner from the force called me. She's offering me a ticket, as well as a guest pass, to the policeman’s gala.”

”I’ve heard of that! It’s held in the auditorium at town center, right?”

”That’s the one. Would you like to go with me? It’s at the end of next month, which hopefully gives you enough time in advance to ask for the day off.” He hurriedly throws in, “if you decide to accept.”

”Of course I’ll go, I’m sure my assistant can cover for the day.”

Jaha, not even bothering to knock, swings open her door and makes a face at the two sitting a bit too close on the couch. Shaking his head, ”we need you, Abby.” Pulling herself away from Kane’s side, she gets up. Marcus grabs her lab coat off the armrest and helps her shrug it on.

”Duty calls,” she says before leaning in and giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll call you tonight,” she turns and heads out the door, already in doctor mode.

 

***

She gets home a little after 10pm. Sitting on the recliner in her living room, she dials Marcus’ number.

”Hey,” hopefully she doesn’t sound as tired as she feels.

”You sound tired.” So he _can_ read her already. “How was the rest of your day?”

”Weird, actually. What about you?”

”Boring, if I’m being honest. What was so weird in the mysterious life of Abby Griffin?” He adds with a hint of playfulness in his voice.

”Thelonius asked me out after you left.” Hearing nothing but silence on the other end, she continues. “He said something about giving me the day off tomorrow and he’d take me to dinner. I of course said no. He’s my boss, how could he even think...” she lets the rest of the sentence fall. Sighing, “so that’s my day for you.”

"Thelonius, huh?" He laughs. ”Do you still have the day off?”

”The offer was revoked when I declined,” she laughed.

"That's too bad. You deserve a break."

They talked for the next twenty minutes until Abby had to head to sleep. On top of their Monday and Friday morning self-defense sessions, they also made lunch plans for throughout the week.

 

 


	4. Purple Heart

Three weeks have passed, Abby and Marcus continued to have lunch together whenever they could. During one of their lunches, she opens up to him about Jake, her ex-husband, and that he was killed late last year. For Abby, it was a huge step. She never told anyone else about Jake on her own accord. They still have yet to classify their relationship as anything more than friends, but her three week Christmas and New Years break was right around the corner and she planned to spend those days with him, plus, with the help of Jackson covering for her, Abby was able to clear the last Friday night in November.

Marcus picked her up after her shift was over, he told her he’d drop her back off at work the next morning since her car would be staying overnight in the parking garage. They picked up Chinese takeout on the way to his place. Walking into his apartment, she looks around at the various pictures and decor on his walls.

”Make yourself comfortable.” He says as she makes her way over to a medal that caught her attention. Reading the words inscribed on it, _For the heroism displayed on_   _October 27th, 2017._

“You got this?” She asks.

”The Purple Heart award, yeah. I was awarded it after the night I got injured.” He settles down on the couch with their food and asks her to come join him.

Grabbing her container and sitting next to him, “what happened that night, Marcus?”

”I remember only bits and pieces, really. I know there was a man, he’d already been shot before I got there, but the woman.. she was still alive. When I heard the cocking of the gun I pushed her out of the way and shielded her from the bullets.”

”What happened to her?”

”My partner, Indra, told me she made it. She wasn’t hit. I never met her after that night, though.”

”I’m sure she’d like to hear from the man who saved her life. Does the force still have her information? Maybe you could call her.. just to check-in.”

”I suppose you’re right. I’ll text Indra tomorrow. Right now, I just want to be with you.” He turns on the tv for them to watch and opens his arm up to her so she can cuddle into his side. Tightening his arm around her, she lays her head on his shoulder. About fifteen minutes later, he notices that she has fallen asleep on him. He decides not to move and wake her, so he continues watching the movie that’s on.

_Abby hears the gun go off. She turns around and locks eyes with Jake as he’s falling. It all seems to be going in slow motion. She knew everything he was trying to convey to her in those final moments. “Don’t do anything stupid, give him what he wants. Survive, please,” he seemed to say. As he hits the floor, a sea of red starts pooling around him._

_”Jake!” She screams. “You son a bitch!” She says as she turns back to the gunman. “Let me help him!”_

_”No can do, sweetheart. The sooner you give me the money, the sooner you can go to him.” She goes to him anyways. Sinking down on the floor next to him, she applies pressure to the wound._

_”Get up.”_

_"Get up! Step forward. Don't try anything that you might regret," he says it louder this time and she listens. As she’s stepping forward, she notices movement out of the corner of her eye. The police, thank god._

_She never recognized the face of the man who saved her life in the dreams she had. It was different this time though. His face, his hair, the features... they were clear as day._

_It was Marcus._

She jolts awake in Marcus’ arms, breathing heavily.

”Hey, hey, you’re okay.” He soothes.

She looks around. ”Marcus, I think..”

”Was it a nightmare?”

”Yes but it happened. It happened before, in real life.” She pulls herself away from him to look into his eyes. “October 27th, 2017.”

Looking confused, ”What about it?”

”It’s on your award. The date of the night you got hurt.” He follows her gaze and turns around to look at the Purple Heart medal on the wall. “It was also the night my husband died. And I think,” taking a breath and averting her eyes again, “I think you were there.”

Furrowing his brows, “What do you mean?”

”You saved my life,” she reaches up and cups the side of his face.

The realization dawns on him, “how did I not know?” His expression changes to that of guilt.

Knowing that look, she moves to reassure him. "Marcus. Please don't blame yourself." She rests her head on his chest and his arms wrap around her back, holding her tight. "That night is the reason I started taking self-defense classes. I want to be able to protect myself." Huffing a humourless laugh, "that's why a doctor is learning how to fight," she says, mirroring his words from the night they met.

"Abby, I'm so sorry. I should've gotten there sooner, I should've -"

"It's not your fault. It's never going to _be_ your fault." It doesn't entirely convince him, but for the moment, it's enough. He guides them both down onto the couch from their previous sitting position. She's still in his arms as they drift off to sleep.

***

 

The next morning, Abby and Marcus sit at the island in the kitchen enjoying a breakfast that Marcus woke up early to make. The topic of their conversation last night is a heavy weight on both of their shoulders, neither talk about it in fear of invoking more painful memories from that night.

Driving her to the hospital for work, he notices she's been staring out the window for awhile. Lost in her own thoughts, it seems. As he stops at the last red light between them and their destination, he grabs her hand that's resting on her thigh and intertwines their fingers. He brings their joined hands onto the console which prompts her to look at him.

"Are you okay?" She gives him a hint of a smile, it's the first time he's seen one from her since last night.

"I'm happy I'm here with you. I couldn't imagine these last few weeks..." She lets her sentence trail off, but he gets the point.

"Me too." He pulls up to the entrance. As she's opening the door to get out, he places his hand on her shoulder and turns her around. Before she knows it, he's leaning over the middle and closing the gap between them. His lips are on hers and it's as sweet as first kisses go. Pulling away, he brushes a wisp of hair behind her ear. "Go save lives." Another smile. This time, she closes the gap and places a last, lingering kiss on his lips before getting out of the car.

"Have a good day, Marcus," she says before closing his passenger door. He watches to make sure she gets into the building safely.

When Marcus gets back to his apartment, he sees the medal hanging on the wall. Now, all it does is remind him of how he failed. If he had gotten there sooner, Abby wouldn't have lost her husband. A part of him knows there wasn't anything he could've done, but another part of him still feels guilty. He takes the medal down and shoves it into the very back of his drawer. 


	5. His Consultant

Abby has been on her Christmas and New Years break from the hospital for a week now. Neither of them mention the night of October 27th. She thinks that, mentally, he seems to be in a better place than he was a week ago though. There's only 7 days until Christmas, and another 12 days until the Policeman's gala. Abby decides to bring Marcus with her to shop for a dress for it, and help him find a Christmas gift for his mom, Vera, who was flying in on Christmas Eve.

Abby came out of the dressing room and stopped in front of the mirror. She looked herself up and down before letting out an exasperated sigh. This was the fourth one she's tried on. Marcus is sitting on a bench that's pressed against the wall.

"I think you look great," he gets up to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her torso.

"I have one more to try on," she says while turning around in his arms and putting her hands flat on his chest. "Then we can go Christmas shopping." She pushes away from him and makes her way back into the dressing room. The dress she comes out in next makes his breath catch. He's never seen anyone so beautiful. She's wearing a tight-fitting, olive green, satin dress with a slit that runs dangerously high on her leg.

The effect she has on him isn't missed by her. She does a little twirl in front of him. "So, what do you think?" She asks with her hands on her hips. "I think I like this one."

His eyes are trailing over her figure and her voice startles him out of his reverie. He clears his throat, "Me too."

She laughs, "You've said that about all of them!" She playfully jabs him in the chest.

"That's because you look  _good_ in all of them." He reaches out and runs his hands down her arms before intertwining their fingers. "I know you wanted me to come along to help choose, but I'm going to leave this one up to you."

She releases his grip and goes to change out of the dress and back into the casual outfit she was wearing before. "This one it is then," she holds up the last dress she came out in by the hanger.

"Good choice." They walk up to the counter and Abby digs in her purse as Marcus grabs his wallet from his back pocket at the same time. Marcus was faster. At the sound of the cashier's voice, her head snaps up to see Marcus handing him the money.

As they're heading out of the store, she grabs him by the elbow which stops him. "Why did you do that?"

"I'm the one who invited you, it's only fair." He adds to his point, "Besides, it was probably the money from the self-defense classes, which  _you_ attend."

She let it go, not wanting to get in an argument over something as silly as him purchasing a dress for her. They walk to his car and she puts her dress in the backseat, she didn't want to carry it around at the jewelry store while looking for a gift for Vera.

Once in the store, she releases his hand and goes to look in the glass displays. A particular piece catches her eye. It's a diamond necklace that has a teardrop-shaped pendant hanging from it. "Marcus," she calls him over. "This one is beautiful, do you think your mom would like it?"

He studies it for a moment. "I was going more for earrings, actually. She isn't much of a necklace wearer. It is beautiful, though." His hand comes to rest on the small of her back, she can hear the smirk in his voice when he says, "You have good taste."

Laughing, she takes a step away from him. She jokes, "And _you_ have a big ego." She heads over to the display that holds the earrings and is transfixed on the shining, expensive jewelry. She doesn't even notice Marcus talking to one of the employees.

Marcus points to the necklace Abby showed him moments before, in a hushed voice, "Is there any way you can put this on hold for me?" His eyes flicker towards Abby on the other side of the store, "I was planning on coming back later.." He trails off, hoping the boy gets what he's trying to say.

The boy looks over at Abby, then back at Marcus. "Of course, just write your name down here," he hands him a tag and pen, "I'll put it in the back for you." Marcus thanks him and heads back over to Abby whose gaze is flicking back and forth between two sets of earrings.

"Find anything good?"

His voice startles her, "There you are!" She points at the two she found. "I didn't know if you would rather get her a fancier pair," gesturing to the dazzling diamond earrings, "Or a more casual pair," and gestures to the second pair. "These ones are pretty yet still good for almost any occasion."

He thinks. "I can't remember the last time she's went to an event that would require these." He gestures to the first ones she showed him.

"Casual it is?" She asks.

"You're the expert." He smiles down at her, "Who needs the jewelry consultant when I have you?" He wraps an arm around her shoulders, kisses her temple, and then tells the employee that he's ready to pay.

***

 

Marcus and Abby pull up to his apartment.

"Here's the key," he hands it to her from the drivers side.

Confused, she asks, "You're not coming in?"

"I'm going to run to the store. I forgot one of the ingredients for breakfast in the morning." He leans over to press a chaste kiss on her lips. "Feel free to take a shower and help yourself to a snack in the fridge." He watches to make sure she gets in through the door safely and backs out of the parking spot and goes to the jewelry store they were at earlier, and then to pick up what he'll be making for breakfast.

Marcus walks through the door of his apartment and makes his presence known. "I'm back!" At the sound of his voice, she emerges from his bedroom, brushing her slightly damp hair. She's clad only in his faded black H.D motorcycle shirt, which is clearly several sizes too big on her considering it goes down to her mid thigh.

Explaining, "I left my bag in your car," she moves to grab his keys from the hook. He stops her, remembering that he left the bag from his first stop in there.

"I'll go get it," he takes the keys from her. "You'll catch a cold."

***

That evening, Abby put a pair of shorts on but was still sporting Marcus' shirt. They're both in the kitchen preparing dinner.

He shuts the stove off and wraps his arms around her torso like he did at the dress department, "You know, that shirt looks better on you than it does on me."

She turns in his embrace and links her arms behind his neck. "Oh, really?" She flirts.

"Absolutely." He leans down and kisses her. This one much more passionate than the one they shared in the car. She gasps when he hoists her up by the back of her thighs and sets her on the countertop.

She pulls away at this new side of him. "How romantic," she giggles before capturing his lips again. His hands starts toying with the hem of her, well  _his,_ shirt before trailing his hands up her sides, bringing the shirt with them.

A knock at the door.

He pulls back. "They'll go away," and then his lips were on hers again.

Another knock.

He throws his head back, groaning. Marcus kisses her one last time, "I'll get rid of them. " He tries to smooth his hair back down to make himself look presentable.

He swings the door open with a little more force than necessary, he just wants to get back to Abby.

An older woman steps through the threshold and wraps her arms around him before he can utter a word.

"Marcus!"

"Mom?" He says, incredulously. "I thought-"

"I decided to fly in early and surprise you!"

Abby hops down from the counter, feeling quite underdressed in a t-shirt and pair of shorts that aren't even visible, but she doesn't want to be rude by going back to his room. Vera spots her as she comes into her line of sight. "You must be Abby!" With a smile on her face, she throws her arms around Abby, catching her off-guard. The woman she just met pulls back, "Marcus has told me so much about you."

She raises an eyebrow at him, "Has he now?"

"Have a seat mom, dinner is just about ready." Marcus grabs Abby by the hand and leads her back into the kitchen. "Sorry," he says as soon as they're far away enough from the couch.

"Why are you apologizing? Vera's sweet."

"I mean about not being able to finish what we started earlier." He drops a kiss onto her hair before turning around and switching the stove on again.


End file.
